With a dearth of pilots, Northwest cancels flights

Northwest Airlines Corp. said it canceled 8% of its flights Monday as disruptions linked to a pilot shortage extended into a fourth day.

Northwest wouldn’t disclose how many flights were affected, spokesman Roman Blahoski said. Airline data tracker FlightStats, which includes cargo service in its totals, said Northwest scrubbed 119 flights, or more than 8% of its schedule.

So far, Northwest’s scheduling woes have had little effect on travelers in Southern California, where the carrier has gradually reduced its presence. Northwest is the 10th-largest carrier at LAX, with 22 daily departures.

In the last three months, Northwest has canceled fewer than 1% of the flights to and from the airport.

According to FlightStats, most of the cancellations have been concentrated on Northeast routes to cities such as New York, Boston and Washington.

“It’s probably had a very modest impact” on ticket sales, said George Hamlin, managing director of Airline Capital Associates in Fairfax, Va. “A lot of Northwest’s markets are not exactly captive, but there are few alternatives.”

Northwest’s pilots union says the carrier lacks enough crews to operate its summer schedule and says its members are reaching monthly flight-hour limits. Chief Executive Doug Steenland last week predicted new cancellations because of a “significant spike” in pilot absenteeism.